Chapter 117: He Chased It, It Chased Him
Inside the main hall of the pavilion in the rear courtyard of the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts...
A strikingly beautiful woman in red was sitting in a chair. Her expression was cold, but her gaze was fiery.
Two men were standing beside her. On her left was a middle-aged man in a long robe who carried a noble air, and on her right was an elderly man with a long beard.
"Second Uncle, what were you doing earlier?" the woman asked after observing one of the two men for a moment.
Her tone was amiable as if merely exchanging pleasantries, yet she seemed to be questioning him.
The middle-aged man in the long robe smiled and said, "Oh, Hongqiu, as you know, our Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts is always booming with business. As such, I often have business engagements in Taotie City. Your arrival was so sudden, but I rushed back as soon as I received the news."
A gust of wind blew through the hall, causing the candle flame to flicker.
"The Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts is booming with business...?" The woman in red gasped. "Then why have you been turning in lower and lower profits in recent years?"
"Hehe," the middle-aged man chuckled. "It seems you don't know how things work in business. Even if a store is doing well, profit margins will fluctuate..."
"Ahem," the long-bearded elderly man coughed, interrupting the middle-aged man. Then the old man said in a deep voice, "Xu Nanling, you need to be aware of who you're talking to. The Young Lady is currently touring the Four Seas with the chief's arrow banner of command. Say what needs to be said, but show some respect and refrain from saying what shouldn't be said..."
It seemed that the middle-aged man revered the elderly man greatly.
Upon hearing the elderly man's words, the middle-aged man immediately nodded gently and said, "I will heed your reminder, Elder Cangxing."
The three people in the hall were Xu Hongqiu, the Young Lady of the Four Seas Whale Gang, Elder Cangxing, from the Northern Whale Division, and Xu Nanling, the manager of the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts in Taotie City.
With the approaching election for the next chief of the gang, it was the usual practice for envoys to carry the chief's arrow banner of command as they toured the Four Seas. The purpose of the tour was to take advantage of the chief's authority and use it to investigate if any shady activities were being done within the four divisions of the Whale Gang. They could then use their findings as bargaining chips to increase their leverage in the upcoming election.
The home base of the gang's current chief, Xu Bashan, was the Northern Whale Division. In the past, he had stepped down as the vice-chief in charge of the Northern Whale Division to take part in the election to become the next chief of the gang.
The Northern Whale Division operated several stores in Taotie City, and they were key businesses for the gang. The Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts was one of them. It had always been managed by Xu Nanling—Xu Bashan's clan junior.
The very purpose behind Xu Hongqiu's visit was to inspect Xu Nanling's activities.
After Elder Cangxing admonished Xu Nanling, Xu Hongqiu said slowly, "Second Uncle is from my clan after all, so I don't mind whether he's polite with me when we're talking in private. However, Second Uncle, I hope you can give a proper answer when we're in public."
"Haaa," Xu Nanling sighed helplessly. "It's normal for profits to fluctuate when you're running a business. During the last two years, Taotie City has seen a great increase in the number of stores selling spirit beasts. To compete with them, we've had to make many price cuts. I've been working hard to continue bringing in profits—"
"I know you've been working hard, Second Uncle. Why don't you take out the store's accounts ledger and let me have a look? Everything will be clear at a glance," Xu Hongqiu suggested suddenly.
Xu Nanling looked surprised. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you suspect me?"
"This is one of our gang's businesses. I'm here under the chief's authority to check the accounts. I'm acting fairly and reasonably, so why would you say that?" Xu Hongqiu replied, staring at Xu Nanling coldly without any hesitation.
"I've always been sending the accounts ledger to the chief for review at the end of the year, and there has never been a problem. Yet, you've suddenly come here to say you want to check the accounts... You're obviously suspecting me..." Xu Nanling said, his anger seeping into his tone.
"Yes," Xu Hongqiu answered indifferently with a nod.
The meaning behind her answer was very clear...
I do suspect you. What about it?
Xu Hongqiu's candid admission stunned Xu Nanling.
After staring blankly for a moment, Xu Nanling squeezed out, "Huh?"
...
The roar of a beast rang out suddenly, shaking the street!
There had already been an incident during the day involving a Dark Wind Panther escaping from the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts. It had caused a disturbance to the surrounding area, but the nearby cultivators hadn't thought much of it. After all, the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts couldn't possibly continue making such oversights.
However, this time, an even more astonishing demonic miasma overflowed from the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts, so much so that it instantly put the whole city in a state of alarm.
Boom—
The demonic beasts imprisoned Inside the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts had cultivation levels ranging from the first to the fifth realm. Occasionally, there were even sixth-realm demonic beasts that were brought over to the store under escort to be sold. There were at least several hundred demonic beasts in total.
No one could have expected that all the demonic beasts held in the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts would escape that very night! It seemed as if this escape had been premeditated. A nearly two-zhang-high Wind Roarer with sharp scales broke through the doors of the store, and countless shadowy figures fled in all directions!
At this moment, Chu Liang happened to be just outside the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts and saw the stream of shadowy figures rush out of the store.
Seeing the demonic beasts flee, Chu Liang couldn't help but think...
Crap. My Human-Faced Xiao!
He immediately activated his divine sense to search the area for the Human-Faced Xiao. Luckily for Chu Liang, he noticed there was an ash-gray figure who had the fastest speed among the hundreds of shadows darting around. Chu Liang managed to find the Human-Faced Xiao with just a glance.
"Stop right there!" Chu Liang yelled, immediately chasing after the Human-Faced Xiao.
I don't care about the other monsters, but you can't go... I paid a deposit to buy you!
Chu Liang had experienced firsthand how difficult it was to catch a Human-Faced Xiao. In that complex terrain, even Fang Ting, who was at the level of the Golden Core Realm, had not been able to keep chasing it.
So, this time, Chu Liang activated the flying form of the Razor Leaf the moment he started chasing the Human-Faced Xiao.
Whoosh—
During that mission with Fang Ting, Chu Liang had been able to chase and keep up with the Human-Faced Xiao solely because he'd used the Spirit Cat Leaping Talisman. Now, Chu Liang was just managing to be on the Human-Faced Xiao's heels thanks to riding on the Razor Leaf.
If someone were to look down at this scene from the sky, they would see three figures moving significantly faster than the rest.
One of them was the shadowy figure who had darted out of the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts first. This person was obviously related to the chaos at the store, but Chu Liang didn't care about matters that didn't affect him.
The second figure was the ash-gray Human-Faced Xiao. This creature made of yin qi was truly crafty. It was unlike the other demonic beasts who were fleeing frantically without much thought. The Human-Faced Xiao seemed to have determined that wherever the black-robed figure was headed would be the safest option, so it closely followed behind the black-robed figure.
That certainly appeared to be the case, as the other demonic beasts had been stopped by the staff of the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts and the Taotie City's law enforcement department. The Human-Faced Xiao, who had followed the black-robed figure, was the only one who had managed to make it out and flee into the distance.
The third figure was Chu Liang, standing in the radiance of the Razor Leaf's green light. He stared fixedly at the Human-Faced Xiao, unwilling to relax and drop his gaze.
It was evident that the direction-focused training he'd done had been effective. He was currently making the Razor Leaf fly at full speed, flying agilely and weaving through the urban terrain of the city. It was a bit strenuous, but he never crashed.
Chu Liang's ability to exercise fine control over his divine sense had already surpassed that of many cultivators of the same cultivation realm. He had achieved such a high level of proficiency that he could even consider splitting his focus between using the Razor Leaf to fly and launching an attack at the Human-Faced Xiao with his flying sword!
The wind roared thunderously in Chu Liang's ears as he sped forward. As he was still riding on the Razor Leaf, he couldn't use complex hand seals to activate skills like the Talismanic Sword Seal. All he could do was raise two fingers and command the flying sword to thrust toward the Human-Faced Xiao like a shooting star.
Unfortunately, the flying sword kept missing its target.
The three figures were moving at lightning-fast speed. He chased it, and it chased him![1]
Chu Liang's eyes were only focused on the Human-Faced Xiao; he didn't even notice the black-robed figure. However, the black-robed figure overlooked the Human-Faced Xiao's presence and only noticed Chu Liang.
The black-robed figure at the forefront was too preoccupied to look closely at the situation behind him. He knew through his divine sense that someone had been following him this whole time, but he had no idea that it was just Chu Liang working hard to catch a Human-Faced Xiao. The black-robed man thought that he was the one Chu Liang was after.
Consequently, when the black-robed man passed through an intersection, he suddenly glanced to his left and right while shouting, "Stop him!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Three people rushed out from the sides of the intersection. Two of the three people raised their hands and held open a large golden net while the remaining person formed a seal with both hands and activated the golden net, sending it into the air.
Swish—
There was a flash of golden light, and the large net spread across the intersection in midair, instantly separating the black-robed man from his pursuers!
The Human-Faced Xiao let out a strange cry as it did a flip in midair to avoid colliding with the golden net. After that, it tried to turn and head in a different direction. However, it realized that it was a bit too late to do that.
During the chase, there had always been some distance between the three figures. Nevertheless, considering their swift speeds, that distance was basically nothing.
Chu Liang caught up in an instant while the Human-Faced Xiao was delayed.
"Go!" Chu Liang yelled.
To ensure he would land a hit on the Human-Faced Xiao, Chu Liang unleashed all of his enchanted artifacts.
Hundred Swords Seal!
Flying swords emerged in a flurry and filled the sky overhead with swordlight.
Demon-Binding Rope!
A beam of snake-like red light shot out.
Razor Leaf!
The crescent moon Chu Liang had been riding disappeared.
When the Human-Faced Xiao turned around and saw that it had no way out, it immediately showed a fierce expression to Chu Liang. It wasn't clear whether the Human-Faced Xiao even remembered the person to whom it had shown a vicious front during the day though. In any case, it was now pouncing toward Chu Liang.
In the next second, Chu Liang's overwhelming attack was raining down on the Human-Faced Xiao. He was no longer the same as when he did that mission on Southern Bastion Mountain. The Human-Faced Xiao had no strengths aside from speed. How could it possibly withstand Chu Liang's attack?
Shing—
In practically no time at all, this vicious ghost was killed by the Hundred Swords Seal and returned to being a wisp of yin qi.
Finally...
Right when Chu Liang felt at ease, he heard a familiar high-pitched, piercing scream ring out nearby.
"Aaaah!"
1. In case you didn’t get it, Chu Liang is chasing the Human-Faced Xiao, and the Human-Faced Xiao is chasing the black-robed figure. ☜
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